Pin board



Aug. 23, 193s.' JOHNSON 2,127,999

- PIN BOARD Filed Nov. 19, 1956 .Iohnson Patented Aug. 23, 1938 A UNITED STATES PATENT oFricE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to pin boards of that type shown, for example, in Patents 1,794,775, of March 3, 1931 and 1,895,416 of January 24, 1933.

The handling and stacking of boards of this type has always been a problem. When carrying a board filled with bobbins or the like the operator usually has grasped one end of the frame of the pin board and held the board suspended. The weight of the bobbins has caused the pins on 10. the board to incline downwardly toward their free ends with the result that the bobbins frequently would slip off of the pin. I

A further difiicultyhas been found in the stacking of the pin boards. Generally the pin boards 15'. have been placed in superimposed relation, each board resting upon the bobbins on the next adjoining board thereunder. Aside from the fact that it has been difficult to stack any number of pin boards in this manner, the weight of the load on the bobbins has injured them seriously and this has been particularly true where the bobbins have been formed with centralprotuberances or bosses. For the purpose of overcoming these objectionable features, various means have been adopted but without producing satisfactory results. For example pin boards have been made with continuous rods extending therearound above the pins and joined to the sides of the.

board by connecting posts or the like. These rods or rails, made integral with the pin boards, have been objectionable, however, because when the pin boards are stacked one upon the other, they are not held against lateral displacement and easily drop out of proper positions. Furthermore the rails, by extending continuously about the boards, interfere with the movements of the operator when placing the bobbins on or removing them from the pin.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pin board with simple but efiicient means constituting both a handle and a stacking element whereby the pin board, while loaded, can be carried at a properly inclined position to prevent the bobbins from slipping off of the pins and whereby, when the pin boards are stacked one upon the other, they will be held properly centered relative to each other and cannot slip in any direction so as to become accidentally displaced.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in 55 the claims, it being understood that changes may-be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawing Figure 1 is a plan view of a pin board having the present improvements.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a side elevation on a reduced scale showing how the pin board can be carried with the pins inclined upwardly so that the bobbins will not slip off of them accidentally.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through one end portion of two pin boards stacked one upon the other.

Figure 5 is an end elevation of the stacked pin boards.

Referring to the figures by' characters of reference I designates the frame of the pin board preferably made of a stiff rod, this frame having its sides and ends connected by cross strips 2 to which the upstanding pins 3 are joined.

The structure thus far described does not constitute any part of the present invention but has already been disclosed for example in my patents herein before referred to.

The present improvements include combined handles and stacking devices arranged at the ends of the frame. Each of these devices or stacking handles is in the form of a stiff rod bent to provide legs 4 the lower ends of which are joined to the corner portions of the frame by welding or in any other suitable manner, as shown. The upper ends of these legs, which extend well above the free ends of the pins 3, merge into inverted U-shaped ears 5. The legs 4 are arranged in pairs, one pair being located at each end of the frame and the ears of each pair are joined by a cross member 6. The ears provide abrupt shoulders or abutments I at the ends of the cross members 6.

Each ear occupies the same plane as the legs 4 and cross member 6 and the maximum width of each ear is substantially equal to the distance between each side of frame I and the nearest strip 2 parallel therewith. Thus it will be seen that when a pin board such as herein described is lowered onto another pin board provided with these improvements, the ears 5 of the lower board will extend upwardly into the corner portions of the frame I thereabove and will fit snugly between the sides of the frame and. the nearest longitudinal strips 2 and flat against member 6. This has been shown clearly in Figures 1 and 5. With the parts thus located, the upper pin board I will not only rest firmly n the cross members 6 of the lower pin board but said upper pin board will be held against lateral or longitudinal sliding movement relative to the lower pin board because of the snug interfitting arrangement provided.

Obviously by constructing pin boards as described, a large number of them can be stacked without danger of being shifted accidentally relative to each other and, therefore, it becomes unnecessary to provide separate shelves or other supports for the superposed pin boards. Instead, they can rest one above the other, the load being transmitted from the legs of one pin board to the legs of another with the result that the bobbins, cones or the like mounted on the pins 3 will not be subjected to weight. On the contrary ample space will be left above all of the pins and the bobbins thereon for the free circulation of air, steam, etc. Thus the pin board can be used successfully at all stagessduring the progress of the bobbins or cones through the mill.

When it is desired to carry one of the pin boards, it is merely necessary to hold it by one of the stacking handles, the part 6 constituting an efiicient grip as shown in Figure '3. As this held part is widely spaced from its frame I, the pin board will be suspended at an angle as shown in Figure 3 with the pins 3 inclined upwardly toward their free ends. Therefore there is no danger of the bobbins or the like mounted on the pins from slippingoff of them accidentally. Furthermore, as the member 6 does not extend entirely around the pin board but only across the ends thereof, the side portions of each pin board are left free from obstructions and, therefore, the operator can readily reach laterally between these stacking handles so as to have convenient access to the pins and the parts thereon.

It will be noted that the stacking handles are inclined upwardly toward each other so that the projecting centering ears overlie the corner spaces of the pin board. Thus they are properly positioned for entering the corresponding spaces in other boards when placed thereover. While the invention has been described as a pin board, it is to be understood that the improvements are equally adaptable for use in connection with cone boards so that either bobbins or cones can be properly stacked. The term pin board is to be understood as intended to cover either of these types of boards.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a pin board including a frame, and crossed strips carried thereby, there being openings in the pin board formed by the corner portions of the frame and the adjacent crossed strips, of stacking handles rigidly connected to and converging upwardly from opposed portions of the frame, each of said stacking handles including a single length of material shaped to provide supporting legs, centering projections overlying the corner openings in the pin board, and a combined handle grip and pinboard-rest joining the projections, said projections and handle grips constituting the sole connections above the frame between the legs, said legs, projections and handle grip being in the same plane, and said projections being positioned and proportioned to rest flat against the ends of a frame when engaged and centered thereby and to extend throughout the width of the openings in which they are seated.

2. The combination with a board including a frame, and upstanding holding devices on the frame for engagement with bobbins, cones or the like, there being openings in the pin board, of stacking elements connected to opposed ends of the frame, each of said elements including legs secured at their lower ends to the frame, and grips extending across the ends of the frame and constituting the sole connections between the legs above the frame, said grips being positioned above the level of the holding devices, there being centering means upstanding from the grips in planes parallel with the ends of the frame and overlying the openings in the pin board.

JOHN E. JOHNSON. 

